Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-11-25

L
we "lit" removed the saddles from our
horses, fed them, and rested ourselves on
the rude log porch. Starer number one
had meantime been reinforced by starers
number two, three, four and five, all tow
headed and open mouthed, ranging down
in size like YER gently inclined stair.
way. The porch was rude, rooted with
long made oak shingles Pegs driven
into the rude poles that held the shingles,
he'd up a variety of broken saddles and
leather straps, with a skin or two. Inside
the open door was large room contain
ing two beds, a cradle and spinning
wheel. Beyond this was the log kitchen.
After time we were summoned t. din
ner. A table without cover of any kind,
very rude in con ,tructon but very clean
a large dish of fried pork or bacon, a plate
of hot corn pone aud hot biscuit. POta-
toes baked, black coffee sweetened with
sorghum mOlasses This was all, neither
sugar nor milk nor butter nor any of
those extras that have come among us to
be almost essential. 1t is astOni hing how
| many plates of hot corn pone and hot bis
cult two full grown men can eat under
circumstances similar to those we were
placed in. At one END of the room was a
large open fire place with bright wood
fire blazing IN it. 1t was from this open fire,
without n sign OF an oven OF any Kind, that
the hot biscuit came How anything
could be baked without u stove and an
oven was a mystery toa Yankee. When
| betrayed my curiosity by questioning
it created Il laugh. Our hostess said
Look we're, sir" aud she lifted the
cover off a large iron pot standing
before the fire. There were potatoes and
pOues and biscuit, Nesting side by side,
and all baked to Il turn IN the same pot.
/ venture to say that in all that section OF
country there is no stove and no oven
other than an iron Kettle, and perhaps rs
Il result of the absence of stoves there is
y Ia.
seen Il loaf of bread. Bre ID is something
that is almost unknown in many parts of
the South except at the hotels in large
cities Biscuit red hot and brought upon
the table in fresh hot relays every two
minutes during the meal is the only thing
known in the bread line, except hot corn
/ bread and corn pOnee. i 1t any wonder
that diet of this kind. with plenty of
| pork and strong coffee three tGmes a day,
| gives the Southerner rather salloN Ap-
! learauce?
where's your husband, mum ?" says
my guide, Hes over yOn at the mill"
/ Il she had said at the "stiii'' or hiding out
! from Us thinking We might be revenue
officers, her answer would likely have
| been more correct.
Sitting in the room with Us were four
generations. The grandmother smoking
! a pipe in the chimney corner orr hostess,
| the mother Of the tow heads cOmely
grown daughter Of our no te,s who her
self was nursing an infant, The young
woman was holding the end OF Il small
stick in her mouth which at once told that
she was Il "snUtf djpper' while | was
! observing her quietly she removed the
stick on which there was bru-h-llke
end, dipped it into snuff box and then
rubbed it vigorously and quickly over her
teeth, gums and inside of her cheeks
| then calmly cheWed the end aud took part
N the conversation. Among the poorer
!
| "suuil-dlpping' is very common, but if it
ever did prevail among the intelligent
white women of the South 1t is not prac-
ticed to any extent now. a more DISGUST
ing habit would be hard to find.
After consuming goodly amount
of corn pOnes and pork and watching the
motions of the snuff dipper' ! found my
appetite disappearing and shortly after
we paid our hostess and prepared to leave.
How far over to the postoffice - we
asked.
Hits Il mighty long way and sorry
poor road eff you-all gifts thar by sun
down you'll have to mosey right smart -
"How do we get there :"
keep OH this trail to yon gap and then
90 down the branch to Their crck."
SO we said Good evening (the after
dinner salutation in all the South and
"mosed along right sharp on our jour
new.
Thire are thousands OF such families as
this in the elevated regions of Alabama
and Tennessee. The people have settled
on government land and homesteaded
them. They are so scattered and SO poor
that schools are unknown and but few of
| them can read. The men hunt some, raise
a little corn and cOttOn,,a and go to the mill
Hstrlde a mule with bag of corn for q
saddle. The men are nearly all tall and
Wlry, wear long hair and thin scraggly
WhlskerS The wOmenare decidedly augu-
lat Il 10 .,1l
pleNlOn and dress without crinOllne at
lacnmeutS. 1t must he confessed that
whether due to the absence OF these ad
iuncts or not, their dresses fit like il coat
on bean pole, and the gentle sex are not
graceful ,gazel'es. The men We're all
Jackson democrats and had it not been for
the war, would still vote for cold Hick.
cry" for president. They were almost tO
to man for the | Mon and against seces-
sion, as they had no slaves and did not
synpathize with the Shareholders.
In fact when Yancey threatened any
one who opposed secession with the pun
iShment of traitors the representatives. of
Northern Alabama fared up under the
taunt and said before the convention in
1861 "Will the gentlemen 20 into those
sections of the State and hang all who are
opposed to secession Are these the first
fruits of a Southern Republic Coming
at the head of any force which he can
muster we will meet him at the foot OF
our mountains, and there with his own
selected weapons, hand to hand, and face
to face, settle the question of the sover-
eighty OF the people"
During the war Forests troopers har
ried them numerically and forced then
into the army quite extensively, but they
had no stomach for the hardships the con
tederate soldiers had to endure, especially
in cause which they hated and hence
they deserted if they could or died OF
homesickness. In spite of his lack of book
or newspaper education, in spite OF his
moonshiner proclivities, these sand
mountaineer" are intelligent in their way
kind, hOspitable, frank and honest.
w. L. FOREST.
a NOtAble Case,